The signing was one of the biggest GM Ryan Poles ever made in free agency. Nate Davis was supposed to help solidify an offensive line that had been a consistent weakness for years. The Chicago Bears felt he had a great mix of power and athleticism to fit their system. Unfortunately, he instead became another cautionary tale of why teams should never lean on free agents to build a roster. It became obvious almost immediately that Davis had two big problems.
- He could never stay healthy
- He lacked any motivation to work or play hard
The guard missed almost all of the past two training camps, along with several games, because of various injuries. When he played, Davis was marred by consistency issues. Head coach Matt Eberflus and his staff had tried being patient with him, but everybody has a breaking point. The Bears finally reached theirs two weeks ago when they replaced him in the starting lineup with Matt Pryor. Still, it felt like he might still have a chance to redeem himself as a primary backup.
Not anymore.
The Nate Davis experiment is well and truly over.
Getting benched is one thing. Getting deactivated for game day despite being healthy is a clear signal the team no longer has any use for you. Chicago would rather go with somebody like Bill Murray, a former undrafted defensive tackle, than Davis. That should give you an idea of how far rock bottom is. Unfortunately, he has nobody to blame but himself. The Bears would be more forgiving if it were just the health issues. Look at Teven Jenkins as an example.
This move has nothing to do with injuries. It is a signal that Nate Davis doesn’t meet their standards. He isn’t putting in the work, effort, or intensity they demand of everybody else. There must be accountability, regardless of how big of a contract you signed. Davis seems content to collect his paycheck on the bench, so he might as well do it from home. Chicago is almost certain to release him next year to end this chapter of disappointment as soon as possible.
Lol, Luv ya Tim
@TGena, Give it a rest. It seems to me you made the missteps somewhere near Poles and stepped in his dogs’ doo-doo, and now you’re an impetuous, sore loser—emphasis on loser. Yep, those missteps have led to a 4-2 record and a better team than we’ve seen in four years or more. With probably more sustainability than we’ve had in years. Pace wasn’t as bad as I probably thought, but he did waste more resources on players who have not made a difference in years, except for the Roquan in Baltimore. The others are good players he signed, but they… Read more »
@timgjerde56 —
This is much more about GM, Ryan Poles and the impact that his impetuous personnel decisions have on all those at Halas Hall.
An NFL team can survive a Chase Claypool experience, now and then.
It cannot survive continuation of the missteps that led to the acquisition of Chase Claypool.
Ryan Poles has yet to learn — and Nate Davis, Ryan Bates, Kiran Amegadjie and others reveal that.
@TGena Why are we still talking about the splinter-catching former starting RG. Give it a rest already.
Nate Davis “proved” during his time with the Bears, that which the entire NFL (except for the impetuous, Ryan Poles) had known all along. Namely, that Nate Davis is “a player who fails to give 100% — 100% of the time.” However, other disconcerting elements were revealed during Nate “Where’s Waldo” Davis’ misadventures.at Halas Hall — and each one might be worse than the previous: ▪︎. Ryan Poles exhibited a willingness to ignore the NFL common knowledge (Titans’ former HC, Mike Vrabel had no use for Davis — and GM, Ran Carthon left Davis to drift — rather than re-sign… Read more »